


Ceremonials

by I_need_canon_MikaAni



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Elementary School, F/F, F/M, M/M, Mentioned Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Abuse, time skipping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-12
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-03-17 11:35:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3527921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_need_canon_MikaAni/pseuds/I_need_canon_MikaAni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After going to college, meeting a certain person brings up certain, memories, for Annie. They aren't all pleasant, they aren't all unpleasant, but with the help of her new girlfriend, Annie might have a chance of putting an end to these hauntings.</p><p>(I still suck at summaries, but I promise that the story is better.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First things first.
> 
> This was inspired by two things. One, the C E R E M O N I A L S music video for the SNK fandom of Lukenix’s channel on Youtube. (I would link it, but I don’t know how…) And the song for it, Only If For a Night by Florence + The Machine. Lovely things they are, you should really go watch them. I’m not sure if it’s going to be a songfic yet, but if it is, I’ll let you know.
> 
> This is also going to be a multi chapter thing, like Unconscious Selection, but not really canonverse. I’ll add warnings and tags and ships and characters and whatnot as I go along.
> 
> A sidenote: I’m working for a sequel to In The Winter and Random Acts of Kindnes, so keep an eye out for those.  
> Enough of me.
> 
> Onto the story!

You’re at pick up. It’s a Thursday and it’s Mom’s turn to pick you up. Reiner stands by your side, like the guard dog of an older brother he is. Glaring at the first and second graders who think that they can pick on you because you’re short and you’re in kindergarten. Rather wisely they stay away, but whether they’re staying away because Reiner is as strong as a third grader or because they remember your kicks and fists is a mystery.

Bertholdt left when his older sister, Ymir, and her girlfriend, Historia, came to pick him up. He left them with a smile and a promise to see them ‘bright and early’ tomorrow, waving all the way to the car. If you stood on your tip toes, you could see him still waving from the back of the car.

“When do you think mom’ll get here Rei?”

He turns his gaze away from the older kids for a second to look at you.

“A few minutes… Five minutes tops.”

When he sees the doubt in your eyes, he reaches out and holds your hand. You swear to the gods, Reiner is the perfect model of an older brother.

“Don’t worry about it Annie. _He_ won’t come.”

You squeeze his hand. He squeezes back.

“Annie! Reiner!”

Both your heads snap towards the source of the sound. And there she is. Walking across the parking lot in a pink dress that stood out against the dull grey cement. Blonde hair- _golden_ hair (it’s too bright and sparkling to be called blonde) was tied back in loose braid.

Ten feet away from you and Reiner she stops and kneels on the ground. Completely disregarding the state of her clean pink dress in favor of hugging her beloved children. You and Reiner raced towards her, both having to be the first to wrap your arms around her waist and legs.

Of course you won. You’re smaller and faster than Reiner could ever hope to be, but he’s so much _stronger_ than you are. Reiner arrives a heartbeat later, hugging you between her and him. She’s warm and full of life and all of these wonderful, wonderful feelings of happiness course through you when she doesn’t flinch at the pressure from your arms. Her skin is glowing and sparkling with health. The bruises have healed, and _he_ is gone, and you and Reiner and she are safe. Happiness replaces the blood in your veins at the thought. Free at last from _his_ rule.

Then there is silence, save for the rustling of the wind against leaves and the sound of life. Cars rolling on cement, the shouts of joy from the children inside them. Staff members calling for children as their parents pulled up.

You break it by sniffling. It progresses into a gentle crying.

Came to weeping is a better phrase for it.

You came to weeping as the emotions that had built up inside came out in a flood of tears. Reiner held you close as he started crying. Tears of happiness stained _her_ dress, but she didn’t move away. She didn’t care about the state of the garment.

All she cared about was the two of you in her arms.

Smiling…

And happy…

And safe…

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll add notes tomorrow.

**-**

_“I’LL BE COMING HOME… JUST TO BE ALONE-“_

Your hand comes slamming down on the snooze button as you roll over. Your arms search the left side of the bed for a warm body. Said body is farther away than you had originally thought it would be, but it’s still there and that’s all that matters. The grip on her waist tightens as you burry your head in her neck. Inhaling her scent.

When the smell of roses hits your nose you relax your grip.

_Calm down Annie, she’s still here, she’s not leaving._

“What time is it?”

Mikasa shifts in your arms, pushing lazily at the covers.

“Morning.”

“What _time_ in the morning.”

Well, Three Days Grace comes on at 10:30 a.m. and the next alarm (Linkin Park) goes off at 11:00 because that’s the last time you can get up if you want to go to McDonalds. Yes. It’s unhealthy. You’re well aware of that, but you’re a college student, and the vast majority of the student population (nicknamed ‘cadets’ because most of the teachers have a military background) are also poor. McDonalds is cheap as hell. Do the math.

“After 10:30.”

That does the exact opposite of what you were expecting her to do. Instead of snuggling deeper into the covers (and your arms) and falling asleep, she snaps up out of bed and starts searching the room for her clothes. It’s ticking you off a bit that she’s leaving so soon, but you have to say, you definitely enjoy the view as she bends over to pick up the various articles of clothing.

“Where are you going?”

Mikasa stops putting on her pants to stare at you.

“Are you serious?”

You blink. The look on her face is one of disbelief and panic. It’s  mild panic, but it’s panic nonetheless. Mikasa never panics. She only panics on a certain number of things, most of them include class. Except it’s a Saturday, and the only classes you have on Saturday are Hange’s marine biology class (which starts at seven in the afternoon) and Levi’s home Ec class. And that starts at-

“Verdammt…”

-11:00.

Mikasa raises an eyebrow at the German but otherwise continues putting on her clothes. You are _not_ going to be late to Levi’s class. The last time that happened…

A shiver runs down your spine.

You don’t want to think about it.

-

You’re sprinting side by side with Mikasa to Levi’s class. There are about five more blocks before you reach the building, but you can see it. It’s 10:56.

“HURRY!”

Up ahead Armin and Eren have thrown open the doors and are holding them open. They have absolutely frantic looks on their faces.

“C’MON! HEICHOU ISN’T BACK FROM HIS TEA BREAK YET!”

At that you and Mikasa start running faster. If Levi isn’t back from his tea break yet, there may still be hope. Eren and Armin start running behind you as you cross the threshold. You start to push the button on the elevator Armin yanks your sleeve as Eren yanks Mikasa’s and points toward the stairs.

“Stairs!”

“Wha-”

“The elevators are busy!”

Eren nods beside you and jumps forward to throw open the door. This time Mikasa decides to interject.

“Bu-“

“There’s no time! It’s 10:58!”

Shit. You’re on the first floor and Levi’s class is on the fifth floor. There are ten flights of stairs and it takes at least four seconds to conquer each flight. Forty seconds. Damn it! You don’t have that much time!

_Six flights left…_

“We’re getting close!

Armin is sweating.

Whether it’s out of anxiety or because he doesn’t exercise much is unknown.

Actually, considering that the most working out he does is running between buildings and lifting textbooks. It’s probably the latter.

“WE CAN MAKE IT!”

Jean throws the door open wide.

“HURRY!”

Eren trips on the doorframe and falls flat on his face. Armin processes the change in environment a second too late as he trips and lands on Eren. Mikasa vaults over them and into her seat as you opt for jump off the door way onto Jean’s shoulders and then into your seat beside Mikasa.

“You made it!”

“Yes. Congratulations. You made it to class. Now into your seats you little shits.”

Those still standing go into a mad scramble to get into their seats. Once everyone is seated Levi stalks into the light. Holding a tea cup in that weird of his with his right hand, and a Clorox wipes container with the other.

“Now clean you working space. There’s no telling what you little brats dragged in.”

“YES HEICHOU!”

-

“-additionally, cuttlefish unable to win in a direct confrontation with a guard male have been observed employing several other strategies to acquire a mate. The most successful of these methods is camouflage; smaller cuttlefish will use their abilities to disguise themselves as female cuttlefish. They do this by changing their body color, hiding their extra arms, remember that males have four pairs, females only have three, and even pretending to be holding an egg sack, disguised males are able to swim past the larger guard male and mate with the female. Females find this very attractive.”

You’re fighting a losing battle trying to stay awake in this class. Mikasa is sitting beside you with a straight back and scribbling down notes about today’s odd fish. She’s already filled three pages with script about their anatomy, along with sketches. They include the weird bone that the cuttlefish have as well as their creepy ‘W’ shaped eyes. Their eyes don’t see colors, but they do see contrast.

Reiner has a look in his eye that tells you that he’s trying to pay attention, but he’s not doing very well. Bertholdt is in front of him. Attempting write notes as he shakes and sweats. In front of you Eren is engaged in a mini war with Jean. The other boy’s boyfriend, (Meryl? Solo? Half in between those two names probably.) is trying to stop the feud. Typical.

You set your head down on the table and sigh. There is no point to paying attention to anything. Mikasa will share her notes with you and you have the book somewhere in your dorm room. And there’s always Armin. He’s willing to help anyone who needs help. Plus you have dibs on Saturday night study sessions with him.

Mikasa slides an extra notebook across the table for you to use as a pillow. You send her a look that you hope looks nice or thankful, or a mixture of the two. Then you lay down your head and close your eyes.

_“Concentrate.”_

Your eyes snap open.

That voice.

You know that voice.

That’s _her_ voice.

_“Annie.”_

It must be a dream. You’ve just fallen asleep, or you’re lost in thought or something. There’s no way that you can hear Hervoice. She’s gone. She’s long gone.

_“Annie, darling, you need to Concentrate.”_

That’s exactly the kind of thing She would say. Tell you to concentrate during class when you’re spacing out. Panic builds in the form of a lump in your throat. Your palms start to sweat and you’re starting to have a hard to time controlling the breaths that pulse in and out of your lungs.

You take your head off the notebook and look at Reiner. He’s still staring at Hange with the same expression he had a few minutes ago. It doesn’t seem as though he’s heard anything. That means it was just you. Or maybe you were just hallucinating from lack of sleep. After all, not much sleeping was done last night.

But as much as you’d like to dismiss the voice as just a hallucination, a part of your mind wonders. You could have sworn you were hearing Her talking to you. Except it’s not possible.

_It was probably a onetime thing._

Yeah, it probably _was_ a onetime thing. Like that time that Sasha thought she was hearing a ghost talk to her when it was really just Connie’s music spilling out of his ear buds. There’s no reason for you to get so worked up over it. She’s gone. Even if She were to come back somehow, she wouldn’t be alive. She would be a ghost.

What the hell are you talking about?

This is real life.

This isn’t a TV show. Like Supernatural or something. There aren’t people dying and then being reincarnated. This is reality god dammit.

“Annie, are you okay?”

“Huh?”

Beside you Mikasa has stopped taking notes and is giving you a concerned look.

“I said are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine.”

When she doesn’t look convinced, you shift your leg so that it’s touching hers. At the contact she relaxes tension that you didn’t notice. She lets the hand hold the pencil droop and turns her full attention to you, still maintaining a comfortable and relaxed posture. A special skill that  you’ll never be able to master.

“It’s nothing really. I promise.”

Mikasa bites her lip and nods ever so slightly.

“It’s just… it looks like you saw a ghost…”

The irony of the situation almost makes you laugh. It’s certainly one way to put it. You didn’t see one so much as hear one. That’s if the words were a ghost at all.

And yet…

It’s so strange that a ghost should be so practical.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ATTENTION  
> Alright, so the first portion of this chapter has graphic depictions of violence, but if you skip to the first line break then all of the violent stuff will be over, and you can continue reading on, but it w i l l be angsty. A fair warning.

" _I'll kill you bitch!"_

_He raises His left arm. Leather belt gripped tight. So tight His knuckles turn white. He starts to bring it down towards you, you raise your arms to try and block it, but a body slams into His. Knocking Him down to the ground, a second later the figure stands back up._

Mom...

_She shoves a phone into Reiner's hand. Shoves you towards him. Shoves him the towards the stairs. So much shoving..._

_"Here. Call the police, go!"_

_"But-"_

_"Go!"_

_He stands up. Raises His hand and starts towards you again when She hefts a lamp over Her head and throws it at Him. There's a wet, popping, crunching sound is it connects with His face. He falters and clutches His newly broken nose. She doesn't falter. She stands there like a warrior goddess. Frying pan gripped tight in Her left hand and vase in Her right._

_"Nicholas no! Leave them alone! It's me you want!"_

_You know that vase. Great Great Gram got it for her wedding, it was already fifty years old, and then she gave it to great grandma her wedding. Great grandma gave it to Grandma at her wedding. Grandma give it to Mom when She and Him got married. She said she would give it to you and you got married. It's almost one hundred and seventy-five years old._

_Reiner grabs your hand and starts dragging you toward the stairs, you find your footing, but you don't run with him. You run_  against  _him._

_She throws it at Him._

_THUMP_

_He ducks and it flies onto the couch, bouncing, but not breaking._

_Grandma would be upset if it did._

_He smacks Her across the face with the leather and there's another wet popping cracking sound. Only so much Louder... Something 'tinks' against the mirror in the hallway. Something, something that's small and white._

_A pearl?_

_An earring?_

_She moves back to face Him slowly. Blood oozing out of her mouth._

_A tooth._

_"Annie we have to go!"_

_"But we can still save her!"_

_The desperation that flashes across his face stuns you enough to let him drag you away and up the first five steps. Then you turn back. She's still standing, swinging the cast iron frying pan at Him. He, in turn, slices the air with the leather belt._

_"But we can still save her!"_

_"Annie-"_

_He kicks Her to the ground._

_She doesn't get up._

_Instead She looks you in the eye. Blue eyes shining with all the intensity of a mother's love._

_"GO!"_

_Reiner drags you the rest of the way up the stairs and into the master bedroom. He locks the door and put a chair under it. Then he pulls you by the wrist into the bathroom. Clumsily he locks the door with his left hand. His right hand is still holding on to you. And you're still holding on to him._

_Holding on. Holding on. Holding on._

_Sometime later they find you. You're not really sure who they are. Not sure when later is._ _You're not sure about anything really. Except that they're here. And they're scary. Very. Very. Scary._

* * *

 

_They look like mutant hybrids. Those monsters you once saw when She was channel surfing when you and Reiner had the flu last year and She didn't change the channel fast enough. Two boys, probably brothers were shooting at a monster. A ghost maybe? It was scary regardless. But you don't know. You don't know what it is._

_Don't know what they are._

_Don't know._

_They reach out towards you._

_Don't know anything really._

_Except they're scary._

_So you scream._

_Reiner had previously been staring at them with blank eyes, but your scream brings him to life. His gold eyes ignite with an inferno and he throws a- no - one of Her perfume bottles at them. It hits their head._

_"Arghh!"_

_Shatters._

_The smell of apples fills the bathroom to an almost toxic level._

_They stumble back, fall as they lose their footing. A swear slips out of their mouth and you hold onto Reiner tighter. The voice is rough and deep and it scares and you and you start to cry._

_Reiner's on fire now. He looks angry. He breathes out and you think it could be steam if it was just a little bit hotter. He steps in front of you, still holding your hand, but he has his other wrapped around another bottle._

_"Jeff what are you doing?!"_

_Another one appears behind the first. They reach up and take off their face, mask. They're a girl. You think. They look like a girl. You'll call them a girl. She has dark skin and deep dark eyes. Dark like chocolate. Her hair is braided back against her head. Dreadlocks? Whatever. She looks nice, and pretty._

_The first one take takes off their masks and sky was at her. He has dirty blonde hair thats fucked up towards the front. Fiery hazel eyes and sort of tan-white skin. He looks sort of like Him. Could be Him if he had gold ur eyes and had more scars and a bigger nose. And a more square jaw to._

_"Dammit woman, I had it. Don't go butting in-"_

_"Obviously not, otherwise she wouldn't have screamed. And she's crying now, just look!""_

_He growls at that but doesn't say anything else. She takes off a glove (she's wearing a suit you realize, like a firefighter, maybe that's her job) and bends down to your level. Reaches out a hand._

_"We're here to help."_

_She's sweet you realize, maybe she_ is  _made of chocolate._

_Reiner lowers the bottle, sets it on the sink. You wipe away your tears with the back of your right hand._

_He stares at her hand, looks her over. Looks at you brushing away the last of the moisture and back at her again. Then he takes her hand._

_"Okay."_

_She leads you out the door and into Her bedroom then out that door and down the stairs..._

* * *

**_WHUMP!_ **

You put your hands back up; throw another punch at the bag. 

**_THUD!_ **

 You are twenty years old.

**_THUD!_ **

You are at college. 

**_WHUMP!_ **

You have a girlfriend named Mikasa Ackerman and the two of you have been going out for eight months. 

**_WHUMP! THUD! THUD! THUD!_ **

You stay like that. Punching and kicking the bag until you can't move anymore. Then you crawl away on your hands and knees to the showers. Once there you turn it on hot, then cold, and hot again, until it balances out.

* * *

Carefully you slip your key into the lock of your apartment. It's two thirty-two in the morning and you don't have class tomorrow, but you don't want to wake up Mikasa in case she's sleeping.

_click_

You turning the knob slowly creeping inside. Setting down your bag as you lock the door. Your shoes come off easily enough. As quietly as you can, you start walking towards the bedroom. Everything seems so easy now that the hard part is-

_Verdammt._

-over.

Mikasa is curled up on the couch, a blanket draped over her haphazardly.

_Did she... did she wait up for me?_

In silent answer Mikasa curls up tighter. Holy Maria its cold as winter in the living room. The heating is on the fritz and it still cold at night. Even though it's almost March.

_Goddesses I'm a horrible girlfriend._

With a sigh you walk over and pick her up bridal style. It's a little harder than usual thanks your five hour workout session, but it's still doable.

"Annie?"

You look down at her.

"Yes?"

She looks at you up at you through hazy tired eyes.

"Why were you out so late?"

"I was uh, fixing something... space a uh, a problem."

Mikasa snuggles into your chest as you set her on the bed, then she lets go as you start stripping off your hoodie and sweat pants. Leaving just your underwear and tank top. Once you're settled back in bed and spooning her she resents your questions.

"Did you fix it?"

"I'm still working on it."

She nods tiredly.

And the only solution was to stand and fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's part three, I feel kind of iffy about this one, so if you could me some opinions on it that would be great.  
> Other than that thanks for reading, and I will see you after my next fic/update!


End file.
